iBOONDOCK

The Bigis guys, who we earlier blogged about here, are doing a great job producing songs and videos which are quite enjoyable.

I’m sure you’ll agree that the video above, “Tayattat”, is well made and really entertaining. But it might anger the ladies a bit because it kind of reinforces the woman = yackity yack stereotype. Hopefully the Bigis guys will make a video making fun of men stereotypes to balance things out.
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This is late but we only discovered the figures on how much your congressional representatives spent during the 2001 elections. We’d like to see their campaign spending report on the 2007 elections but we don’t have the data yet. So let’s settle for the 2001 figures for now.

Some observations:
If the figures are correct, then running for Congress is not that expensive. It should give hope to penniless people who dream of representing our congressional districts someday. If the figures are not correct, then our Representatives are lying. If they are in Grade 1, they deserve to be spanked for not telling the truth (pero bawal na yata itong gawin ng titser). :-)

If the figures are correct then our favorite Cordillera Congressman, Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan, is the biggest spender of them all. If this is the case, then maybe we should “boo” him for spending the most money. Eh ang liit pa naman ng Baguio so he need not spend much in terms of transportation. But if the figures are not correct, then we should give Rep. Domogan kudos for being the “most honest” in a group of dishonest men.

Lastly, cheers to those who submitted their 2001 campaign spending reports. No cheers for those who haven’t submitted (Apayao Rep. Elias Bulut and Mt. Province Rep. Victor Dominguez). Excited pa naman tayong malaman kung magkano ang ginastos ng ating Mt. Province Congressman.

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Here’s an abandoned New People’s Army camp in Abra. You can read the story of how it got abandoned here.

So the longest running communist insurgency in Asia (the world?) continues and it continues to cost lives and money which should be spent on more important things.

When will the insurgency end? Who knows. Maybe it won’t end. And it’s not because people are all to eager to take up arms.

PHOTO CREDIT: PIA

From the Philippine Information Agency:

Is a future Tingguian province in the making?

One of the significant matters discussed during the recent courtesy call to Governor Eustaquio P. Bersamin by the officers of the Abra Confederation of Tingguian Organizations (ACTO) led by its president, Atty. Isidro Espiritu is the creation of a Tingguian province.

The Governor, who is married to. Ruby Bersamin, a Tingguian from Peñarrubia, had expressed his support to the idea of having another province for the Tingguians if only to spur the long-overdue development for their communities.
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Cross-posted at From the Boondocks

UPDATE: For pictures of this soon to be dismantled Ifugao hut, visit The Nashman’s blog.

***
Well, we don’t know much about this story. But here are the facts which we gleaned from the announcement here:

The Ifugao hut is presently located at the Philippine embassy in London.
It was brought all the way from Kiangan.
The embassy is moving to a new address.
They haven’t found a suitable new home for the Ifugao hut.
So they are performing a “death” ritual for the hut on December 15, 2007 (10:00 am).

Now the question is, who brought the hut to London, the government? And did embassy officials have sufficient time to find a new place or a new custodian for the hut?

Because if the answers to both questions happen to be “Yes” then I think they should have done more (or should do more) than this “death” ritual they are planning.

And what exactly are they going to do to the hut? Burn it? Cannibalize it? That is its end after it served its purpose of “showcasing” our culture?
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How are our kailiyans faring in the ongoing Southeast Asian Games (SEA) in Thailand? So far so good. We have at least four medalists. At least? Well we don’t know all our kailiyans participating in the Games, so there could be more than four. Here are the Igorot/iCordillera medalists so far:

Gold:
Mariane Mariano, muay thai
University of the Cordilleras

Silver:
Benjie Rivera, muay thai

Bronze:
Eliezer Sunang,shot put
Jay Olod, muay thai

For more information on the medalists, click the following links: Mariane Mariano (Inquirer report); Benjie Rivera (From the Boondocks); Eliezer Sunang (Sagunto Star); Jay Olod (ABS-CBN).

Cheers to all of them.

- Banaue, Ifugao. Photo credit: Luis at webshots.com